Panel pet doors for sliding doors are installed in the existing tracks of a sliding door to allow a pet (typically a dog or cat) to enter or exit a home through a pet door.
An example of a panel pet door is described in the following U.S. patents entitled “Adjustable Pet Door” to E. Alan Lethers: 7363956, 7063123, and 6691483, each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The panel pet door shown in FIG. 1, item 3 is often similar in height to the sliding door 1 and is placed in the same sliding rails as the sliding door. The pet door 4 is located near the bottom of the panel pet door 3 providing access for the pet into or out of the home.
When a panel pet door is installed adjacent to a sliding door, the screen door 2 must be left open the width 5 of the pet door opening to prevent the screen door from blocking the passage of the pet into or out of the home. On a warm day, a sliding door may be opened to allow fresh air to enter the home, and with the screen door only partially closed, a large gap 6 exists between the panel pet door 3 and the partially closed screen door 2. This gap is often 3 inches wide by approximately 7 feet tall (over 250 square inches) allowing bugs/insects (mosquitoes, flies, lizards, spiders, etc.) and other extraneous materials including leaves and more to enter the home.
Due to the wide variation in pet doors and sliding door/screen door combinations, there is also a wide variation in the width of the gap between the screen door and the pet door. Double paned sliding glass doors for example, typically result in a larger gap than single paned sliding doors. For this reason, there is a need for a solution that supports easy customization of gap width for each pet door/screen door combination.
Since an embodiment providing a solution to this gap occurs adjacent to where a person walks in and out of the sliding door, there is a need for a solution that will minimize the risk of injury if the person accidentally bumps into the invention.